As part of my research into how much identity theft costs people, I decided to do some research on identity theft on a per capita basis. To facilitate this research, I used two sources of information. First, I used population data from Stats Canada's 2006 census. And second, I used a 2006 report from Phonebusters, which bills itself as "Canada's Anti-Fraud Call Centre". Here are the raw numbers that I used:

There are some problems with interpreting these numbers.

First, they are from 2006 and every source I have read cites identity theft as one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Therefore, per capita numbers are undoubtedly higher now than these numbers show. Second (and perhaps most damaging), nobody argues that these numbers are exhaustive. Studies have shown that not all cases of identity theft are reported to Phonebusters, or even reported at all.

Despite those two very real problems, these are some scary numbers. Despite a relatively small number of victims, per capita costs are remarkably high. I am going to search out some more numbers from Phonebusters and I will keep sharing the results of my research here. Let me know if you have any special requests!